AdmiralSaul Karath, anticipating a Mandalorian advance on the planet, rounded up a sizable battle group to defend Serroco and placed camps among the Stereb cities. Disdainful of the location of the camps and seeing it as a dishonorable approach, the Mandalorians nuclear-bombed the planet directly when their force arrived at Serroco, destroying the cities entirely. One Republic Navypilot, Carth Onasi, saved many Stereb lives by calling down false tornado warnings and sending them to their underground shelters, which shielded them from the blasts. Life on Serroco continued on despite the devastation of the planet, and a Republic military presence was reestablished there by the time of the Galactic War several centuries later. By the Imperial Period, a small population of Stereb continued to exist on Serroco.

By the time of the Mandalorian Wars, Serroco was a full member of the Galactic Republic, and Human settlers from the Republic had put down roots on one of Serroco's nicer continents. The Republic Navy maintained an orbitalwatchstation above the stormy planet, issuing tornado warnings to the Stereb, who were not adept with the technology themselves. However, some personnel stationed at the watchstation found it to be a boring posting and amused themselves by calling in fake tornado warnings during festivals, sporting events, and other gatherings, a practice that ended when Serroco's senator complained.[4] Multiple Jedi were also regularly assigned to the planet—during the Mandalorian Wars, one of the Jedi on Serroco was the Human Meetra Surik.[6] In 3963 BBY, the Mandalorian warrior clans advanced on Serroco from the planet Jebble[1]—anticipating an attack, AdmiralSaul Karath assembled Battle Group Serroco and set up a staging area on the planet, with encampments among the Stereb cities. The camps were home to a great number of Republic Navy personnel, in addition to fringerssellingfood and other services to the soldiers. Camp Three featured the extremely popular Little Bivoli mess ship, which was run by two fugitives: Zayne Carrick, a former Jedi Padawan wanted for the murders of his entire class on Taris, and Marn Hierogryph, a petty criminal believed to be his accomplice. Despite being two of the most wanted beings in the Republic, Carrick and Hierogryph were able to evade notice right under the nose of the Karath and his battle group.[4]

Karath and his team thought they were completely ready for the Mandalorians—they figured that the Mandalorians would not dare to attack the Stereb cities directly, for fear of wrecking potential loot. Karath set up a massive cordon of ships surrounding the planet, hoping to stop the Mandalorians dead in their tracks. On the planet below, however, Carrick had a Force vision of the Mandalorians destroying the Stereb cities and annihilating the Republic camps, and he decided that he immediately needed to warn Karath.[4] In a rush, Carrick stowed away on hotshot Republic pilotCarth Onasi's ship, the Deadweight, convincing Onasi of his seriousness and hitching a ride with him to Karath's bridge on the warshipCourageous. There, Carrick was recognized as the so-called "Jedi killer" and accused of being a Mandalorian spy. His warnings went unheeded. Soon, a Mandalorian force came out of hyperspace at the edge of the system. Disgusted by the Republic's "dishonorable" tactic of placing its camps so close to the Stereb cities, the invaders started off the proceedings by firing off nuclear missiles—to Karath's surprise, the missiles angled around the Republic ships, heading toward the Serroco camps. As Karath did not expect this to happen, the camps' missile defense systems were not online, and the planet was left defenseless.[3]

The destruction of Serroco

Impacts were counted near twenty-seven populated areas. While the Human settlements sustained heavy damage, the Stereb cities were simply gone,[3] turned into glass craters.[5] Furthermore, only eight of the Republic ships on the surface escaped destruction,[3] one of which carried the Jedi Knight Meetra Surik.[6] Before the missiles were launched, Onasi had buzzed down tornado warnings to seventeen Stereb cities, hoping that their underground catacombs could protect them if Carrick's vision came true,[3] an endeavor that saved many lives.[7] Serroco was nearly annihilated, its surface covered in massive craters where once had been cities and settlements.[3] The Republic immediately condemned the destruction of Serroco as a tragedy and a horrific crime,[8] and the devastation was not soon forgotten. Republic propagandist "Benegryph Goodvalor" chose Serroco as the name of his imaginary warship in transmissions aimed at the Mandalorians,[9] and the planet became the namesake of a real Republic ship by the time of the later Galactic War.[10] "Goodvalor" was actually Marn Hierogryph, who, along with talented TrandoshancookSlyssk, had narrowly escaped Serroco's destruction on a stolen trooptransport, inadvertently saving half of a sleepingbattalion. The Republic Defense Ministry turned the rescue into a propaganda story, with "Goodvalor" being feted as the "Hero of Serroco."[11]

"What—oh, you mean the Stereb cities?""The stone things.""They belong to the Stereb. They're those tall guys. This is their planet. Oh, there are human settlers from the Republic here, too—but they're on one of the nicer continents."

Serroco was home to the Stereb species, who built the massive stone cities that dotted the planet's landscape. By the time of the Mandalorian Wars, however, Serroco had also been settled by Humans from the Republic, who lived on one of the planet's nicer continents. The Mandalorians' impending attack on Serroco also brought a significant population of Republic Navy personnel to the world, led by Admiral Saul Karath. Meant to defend the world from the Mandalorians, the soldiers lived in camps placed among the Stereb cities.[4]

There were also fringers,[4] or freelance tradespeople,[15] who also came to the world with the Navy to sell their goods and services. Notable among these beings were Zayne Carrick and Marn Hierogryph, two of the most wanted fugitives in the Republic, who sold food in Camp Three without attracting any notice. Even before the Battle of Serroco, there was a Republic naval presence above the planet, as it fell to the Republic to operate Serroco's orbital watchstation and alert the natives of dangerous weather. Bored crewmen often amused themselves by calling in fake tornado warnings, a practice that drew the ire of Serroco's senator.[4]

The Stereb built many stone cities across Serroco, with grand pyramidal buildings and large green columns rising from the earth, although they originally lived in underground catacombs,[3] which the Stereb built to escape Serroco's vicious storms[16] and were still maintained as shelters during the era of the Mandalorian Wars. The Republic set up its camps amongst the Stereb cities in preparation for the Mandalorian attack. One of these, Camp Three, featured the Little Bivoli mess wagon run by Zayne Carrick and Marn Hierogryph. Boasting the talents of the Trandoshan cook Slyssk, the Little Bivoli became popular amongst Republic naval personnel who were tired of the food from the commissary. A watchstation was located in Serroco's orbit was operated by the Republic Navy to monitor the planet's weather.[4]